


We Escaped the World

by ThomassonofSalem



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Allegory, Character Development, First Meetings, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, Other, Religion, Religious Conflict, Religious Cults, Religious Guilt, Self-Hatred, Short One Shot, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 08:52:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomassonofSalem/pseuds/ThomassonofSalem
Summary: a short story allegory about the struggle of people who grew up in a religion and the difficulty in getting out.





	We Escaped the World

“You cant leave”  
“its wrong”  
“Gods says it will kill us” 

But the though never left my head. What could be out there? I was born and raise in the world, in the dark, if I ventured towards the outside, I could smell something strange, I could see something even stranger, but I never dared to venture all the way. That wasn’t our way, we lived here safe in the world that Gods made for us. How could I give that up? Family says that Gods love me and wants the best for me, so I never did more than wonder, and hope, that maybe someday it will be worth it, That Gods knew what they were doing.  
I would always sneak closer, when Family was asleep, I would go to smell the air I would look at the walls of the world, and see how they changed, they grew more detailed, and more fascinating. But I would always sneak back before Family woke. I felt the shame of those actions. I felt them deeply.  
One day I crept almost to the edge, So close I could almost touch the outside, I could smell the air so clearly, I could see so much, I could see my own skin, glowing, I dared to put my hand out, it burned, and I grew terrified, I felt shame so deeply, I ran, I ran as far from the entrance as I could. I returned to Family, and I told them nothing of the outside, I told them I was going to venture deeper into the world, I was going to find Gods and live with them. Family was so proud, Family sent me with the best wishes, and I went deeper into the World. I journeyed down and down for years, I meet other pilgrims, all saying they saw so clearly here, I could not see, but I said I could. We talked about the colors, all the colors the Gods let us see here. I never saw the colors, but I learned what the colors were called, Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, and so on. Gods gave us these colors because they love us. But they did not love me, because I was evil, I had disobeyed Gods, I had been ungrateful.  
Family had journeyed long ago and came back to share colors with the others. I heard stories about the colors my whole life. I wanted to see colors so bad, sometimes I dreamed that I could see colors, I even thought I saw them sometimes, but I was never sure. But I could not tell Family, I could not tell the other Pilgrims, If I tried, if I paid the penalty, maybe I would see them too, maybe Gods would finally speak to me.  
I was still ashamed of the offense I committed. I was ashamed of the interest I had in the outside, I was lucky to be born already in the world, Family told me that there were others who were not born in the world, and they had to find the world themselves to meet the Gods. I was ashamed that I was so lucky, but so ungrateful. I was ashamed of the dreams I had, dreams about the glimpse of the Outside I had. I longed to go back, I wanted to go back, and Gods knew, and they would not speak to me for it.  
I went deeper still. I saw less and less, I thought I was evil. I thought I needed to be punished. So I punished myself, I starved, I didn’t sleep, I Talked to the Gods even though they never talked back, I pretended they did. I told Pilgrims that I heard Gods speak, that they told me what colors were, that they told me that Outside was evil, and Pilgrims told me that I was good and blessed. I was still evil though. I still dreamed about Outside. I still longed for Outside.  
I tried to desire Gods, I tried to make a Family, so I could go back to where it was closer to Outside. But I couldn’t find Family here. I talked to Pilgrims, they told me I was blessed to be close to Gods, that Family was a distraction. I agreed and I went deeper still. I meet fewer Pilgrims, and I tried to talk to Gods, but as always they were quiet, and I was lonely. I was so alone.  
I feared this was my life now to always go deeper and to never talk to Gods, to be forever alone. But I met a pilgrim deeper than you could find any others, a pilgrim who was the same as me, they had peered into the outside, and ran back because they were scared. They were lonely,they had been here much longer than I had with all the time they spent, they had thought so may thoughts; That the Gods were not good, that they just wanted power, that Family was wrong, that Outside was where the colors were, and that we could go there without death.  
I could barely believe, I wanted to cry, I was not alone. They told me they didn’t see colors either, told me the gods didn’t talk to them either. We wondered together, is Outside bad? Could the Gods perhaps be not real? Could Family be bad? Could the tales of colors be really from the outside? How would we know? Could we go to the outside? Would we die? I wanted to find out,I wanted to find out with them.  
Pilgrim gave me a name; Safe. And I gave Pilgrim a name; Light. We sat in the World and talked, we talked while the other pilgrims were sleeping. We talked about the things the Gods had banned, love, thinking, outside, questions, We talked about sadness, and about family. And eventually we made a thing that was very banned. We made a decision. We decided to go to the outside. Together.  
Light went back to family, I returned to family as well. We were going to go when the Families were asleep. We were to meet at the end of the world, and we would venture together. I waited long, Waited till I heard family sleep. Then I left. I found light at the end of the world. I grabbed Lights hand and we walked.  
My eyes burned. The pain was so bad. The Gods were right, the pain, the pain, the horrible pain. It would kill me for sure. I tried to run back, but Light held my hand,  
“Wait, Safe, look” their voice was shaky, they hurt too, but they were brave and holding their hand made me brave too so I opened my eyes. They held my hand and the longer we stood in the outside the less it burned. The more I could smell, the more I could hear, and the more I could see.

I could see the colors

The colors the Gods promised, the colors I had dreamed about for years and years. They were beautiful, they were bright. I turned and looked at the hand in mine, Light was looking at me. They were more beautiful than all the colors. I saw a smile for the first time. I saw light.


End file.
